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SCS board rejects all charter school applications, Legacy Leadership Academy also set to close before next year

A newly formed charter management group plans to replaced the Jubilee Catholic Schools with charter schools.

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June 18, 2015 - Resurrection Catholic School students Alesson Dayanara, 9, (left) and Ana Enriquez, 10, work on a Harry Potter-themed literary treasure hunt assignment during the school's English summer camp. RCS is a part of the Jubilee Catholic Schools system in Memphis which is transitioning to a year-round education model.(Photo: Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal)Buy Photo

The Shelby County Schools board rejected charter applications for 18 schools Tuesday night, sending each back to their sponsors for revisions.

The 10 groups that filed the applications to open a year from now have 30 days to revise their school plans and resubmit them to SCS for a second and final school board vote.

Superintendent Dorsey Hopson also announced the district will seek a third-party analysis of the financial toll charter schools take on the county school system, which is forced to oversee them.

Hopson said he will "use that as the basis moving forward" of how strongly the district should call for legislative changes like a cap on the number of charter schools that can exist in the state or a city.

District officials have long wanted to make a case for such a push back, but struggled to prove a strong financial burden.

The 18 schools include nine from a group, New Day Schools Inc., looking to replace the Memphis Jubilee Catholic Schools network that will close at the end of next school year.

The group is led by Christian Brothers University President John Smarrelli who said previously the group will revise its applications and resubmit them.

If the school board rejects the applications again, the groups can appeal to the state Board of Education.

Hopson also informed the board the charter school Legacy Leadership Academy will close before next year, marking the third charter to shutter before the fall.

Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton is closing both of his charter high schools this summer.

The Legacy charter school, which just wrapped up its first year, lost its status as a non-profit, Chief of Strategy and Performance Management Brad Leon said. He said he did not know why the Internal Revenue Service revoked that designation. Tennessee requires all charter schools in the state to be non-profit.

The state Department of Education notified the district, Leon said, and his office notified the school that if their status was not reinstated, he would recommend the board vote to close the school in July.

The school's sponsor voluntarily gave up its charter last week, Leon said.

A phone number for the school had a voicemail inbox that was full.

The middle school had about 30 students, Leon said, whose families have all been contacted for assistance in finding another school in the weeks before the year begins.

The school was operating on the property of a church at 3333 North Old Brownsville Road, just outside Bartlett.

Gateway had been operating in Bartlett for the last year, outside of SCS limits. That was a concern when the school first opened last year, but is now against the law.

Leon and the state had notified Gateway of the need to move within SCS limits, or the district would recommend the board vote to close the school. That vote was coming Tuesday night before the school signed the lease at the Old Brownsville Road facility.

While the school was originally supposed to open in Downtown Memphis, Leon said there are several charter schools that express an intent to open in one location and end up in another. As long as they obey the law and operate within SCS limits, he said, he won't recommend they be shut down.